an international collective consultation, bringing together the main
protagonists involved in the process of safeguarding and valuing traditional sports and games (TSG) to
create an international platform for their promotion and development. This helped to create a TSG informal
world network, bringing together local communities, experts, NGOs and national and international
institutions.
In 2009, at a UNESCO meeting in Tehran, a group of experts and international NGOs decided to create the
International Traditional Sports and Games Association (ITSGA), a formal organization representative of
this TSG world network.
In parallel, in this synergy movement, many meetings and events have been organized. One of them is the
big international festival of traditional games, TOCATI, created in 2OO3 at Verona, Italy. This annual
meeting became, over the years, a major event for numerous local, national or international protagonists,
young and old competitors, researchers, teachers, artists, politicians, etc.
In 2O15, as part of the large movement for recognition of ICH, and of those who organise traditional
games and indigenous sports, the representatives of different national and international NGOs, attending
the festival TOCATI, decided to pass to an additional level and to draft this “Verona Declaration” to be
promoted worldwide.
This call aims to strongly recommend the introduction of traditional games and indigenous sports,
which embody ICH, into school programmes, in order to be “an integral part of national strategies for
development” (UNESCO).
This declaration aims at valuing, among others:
- All protagonists dealing in creativity, development of self-confidence, environmental awareness and
citizenship,
- Cultural diversity and associated values,
- The creation of structures valuing wellbeing and social health, involving the sharing and interaction
between different generations, and the intercultural dialogue in general,
- The knowledge and the local practices, memory of civilizations,
- And more generally, links between transmission of Intangible Cultural Heritage and sustainable
development.
Signatory organisations: International Traditional Sports & Games Association, International ICH NGOs Forum,
International Society of Eastern Sports & Physical Education, Asociación Panamericana de Juegos y Deportes
Autóctonos y Tradicionales, Association Européenne des Jeux et sports traditionnels, FICEMEA – Fédération
Internationale des CEMEA.